God’s Word for You
Daniel 9:24 Part 2 an end to sin
by Pastor Timothy Smith on Monday, December 22, 2025
24 “Seventy ‘sevens’ are decreed for your people and your holy city: to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for guilt, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophecy, and to anoint a most holy one.
The second gospel promise from Gabriel is that the Messiah, Christ Jesus, will put an end to sin. Sin (here the word is chata) is lawlessness (1 John 3:4), and it is always a deviation from the law of God. Pastor David Hollaz (1648-1713) had obviously been asked a few times about whether animals can sin when he said, “Sin is a wandering from the divine law which make rational creatures liable to punishment; sin brings on temporal and eternal punishment.”
Sin makes people liable to punishment by God. Man’s actions as well as his dispositions are sinful, which is why we say more fully that we sin in thought, word, and deed. Christians who attend schools of higher learning may find that pantheists like Hegel and Schleiermacher deny that sin exists, that it is a concept that is invalid and meaningless. Other philosophers (the rationalists) label sin as an excusable imperfection; an innocent blunder or mistake. However, the Bible never says that sin is excusable, nor innocent. Rather, “the result of one trespass was condemnation” (Romans 5:18).
Is there a difference between “finishing transgression” and “putting an end to sin”? The real difference is in the nouns, since “transgression” is crossing over the line God has drawn with his law, and “sin” is everything in general that man does, even in his thoughts, that does not line up with God’s holy will.
Sin against God’s laws includes more than the Ten Commandments. For example, since the Fourth Commandment forbids us from doing anything contrary to the will of our parents or government, or even an employer or teacher (as long as their rules and laws do not go contrary to the will of God) then even a heathen government’s laws, or an unbelieving parent’s rules, must be obeyed. And more than that, they should be obeyed cheerfully, giving glory to God with such obedience. For when we submit to one another out of love for God, we give him glory, honor, and respect. As Peter says, “Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us” (1 Peter 2:12).
In what way did Jesus put an end to sin? Doesn’t sin remain in us? Don’t we “daily sin much and surely deserve nothing but punishment”? The guilt of sin is removed by the cross and by our baptism, but the form of sin, that is, the fallen human nature, remains, and we continue to be inclined to sin in what we do, say, and even what we think. Clement of Rome says, “I, too, am altogether sinful. I have never yet escaped temptation. And I am still in the midst of the devil’s tools, yet I am trying to follow after righteousness, so that I will be strong enough to at least get close to it in fear of the coming judgment” (2 Clement 18:2). Therefore, forgiveness in this lifetime is real and full, and yet we remain susceptible to sin. In the life of the world to come, sin will be removed forever from us. For with sin came death (1 Corinthians 15:22), but with the resurrection, death and all of the other results of sin are removed forever. So in heaven, there will be no more death, no more sin, no more guilt or shame, and not even any more temptation. Everything that Satan corrupted (which is everything he touched) will be restored and will be perfect and holy once again. Jesus foreshadows this in the way that he healed people during his ministry years. They were no longer ill, no longer unclean, no longer deaf or blind, but they were whole once again. And this is how it will be for us all, except that even temptation will be removed, and we will never even be able to sin once we are in Paradise.
When he shall come with trumpet sound
Oh, may I then in him be found,
Clothed in his righteousness alone,
Faultless to stand before the throne.
In Christ, the solid rock I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand.
Edward Mote (1797-1874)
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in New Ulm, Minnesota. To receive God’s Word for You via e-mail, please visit the St. Paul’s Lutheran Church website.